Sat Apr 26 2025, 07:22 PM

Radical Islamism and Jihad ( 2 Nov 2023, NewAgeIslam.Com)

Muslims In India Should Be Wary of Radicals Using the Palestine Conflict to Lure People to Violence

By Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam

2 November 2023

Islamization Of the Palestine-Israel Conflict Will Lead to Radicalization; While Deploring the Israel State Violence, Adequate Caution Should Be Exercised To Deflect Jihadi Ideas Lurking Behind The Protests. At Any Rate Palestine and Kashmir Simply Can't Be Conflated As Some People Are Trying To Do On The Social Media.

Main Points:

1. The violence unleashed by Israel against civilians of Gaza should be condemned

2. The trajectory of global jihad has shown solid links with the Palestine issue; beginning with Abdulla Azzam and Osama bin Laden, radical leaders have used Palestine as a clarion call for Jihad

3. In India too, the issue has been often communalized leading to religious hatred and radicalism infecting the brains of youths

4. Along with the security apparatus, the community should be vigilant of radicalisation on account of the emotional Palestine issue.

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What was the need for Jamaat's youth wing in Kerala to invite Hamas leader to speak, even virtally? Should we encourage our youth to be influenced by Hamas leadership and their ideology of armed and violent resistance. The UN charter may allow an occupied territory to engage in armed resistance. But under no circumstances does it allow violence against civilians. That the state of Israel is inflicting great violence on civilians, as it has done even in the past, does not absolve Hamas's military wing to inflict violence on Israeli civilians. Neither UN charter nor Islamic postulates allow even occupied territories to perpetrate violence on innocent civilians. Which sensible Muslim would allow our youths to be infected by an inhuman ideology? Time we start thinking of consequences before acting in such stupid ways as did the Jamaat-e-Islami youth wing in Kerala.

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Palestine once again turned a global wound as Israeli forces are constantly dropping tons of bombs on civilians. The world leaders need to immediately huddle together to prevent human slaughter. The initial provocation stirred by Hamas by targeting civilians is beyond rebuke. Although Gaza people are oppressed, living in ‘open jail’, the use of violence against civilians cannot be and should not be justified in any terms.

It's a plain fact that Hamas is motivated by political Islamist ideology. Islam does not support wanton violence in any way. Settlement through negotiation and political engagement, although surreal in current political situations, are viable solutions in the Palestine case. That civilians are to bear the brunt of Hamas violence, brings out the gory implication of using violence to meet the ends.

But more importantly, the Palestine case has been invoked by radical elements to allure people to global Jihad. It expands to anti-Americanism for their protectionist attitude toward Israel and antisemitism.

Palestine is an emotive issue in global Muslim minds as it is closely associated with their religious symbols and general antipathy toward the colonial and neo-colonial global system. Palestine for Muslims symbolizes the forever loss of Arab and Islamic pride and the surging hegemony of the West.

Cyber cries for Jihad bring out the significance of the issue. The issue has been invoked by radical elements to call for jihad. Watch the videos below to understand the gravity of situation.

Having the third holiest site of religious significance in Jerusalem, Palestine has an emotional value for global Muslims. It signifies the dismemberment of Muslim power and the great fraud perpetrated upon Muslims by the West. Besides, Palestine always has an emotional appeal for Muslims soberly remembering the great loss of Islamic civilization and the Caliphate that once was.

Palestine has also great political importance in contemporary Middle Eastern politics. The Palestine issue has been leveraged by Arab states as a political tool and to support dynastic rulership. Arab states have always used Palestine to gain political legitimacy in the region and as a counterweight to the Sunni-Shia conflict (Iran vs GCC countries). The politicization of the Palestine issue by Arab countries is to blame for festering the issue.

In the Indian subcontinent too, Palestine has always been a politically tricky issue. While right-wing parties support Israel and centrist parties maintain a ‘Two State Settlement policy’, Indian Muslims historically supported Palestine and built pressure on ruling parties to condemn Israel's aggression.

Indian state in the past has cautiously walked on a tightrope balancing Muslim emotions and national interest. The left parties have always sided with Palestine as their larger global fight against neo-imperialism.

Palestine In The Global Jihad Movement

Palestine has been sourly characterized as a symbol of Muslim’s failure to act on Islamic principles by Jihadi movements. They attribute the failure of Palestine to the failure of Islamic Sharia and Caliphate.

Besides, using Palestine as an imaginary proxy, they issue Jihad calls. Sadly, the politics of the Middle East sometimes facilitate the capitalization of religious emotions and financial support.

Abdulla Azzam, known as the first global Jihadist, traced his origins to Palestine. Displaced due to the Nakba of 1948, he groomed a notorious club of modern Muslim terrorists, including Osama bin Laden. He appealed to Muslims to liberate Palestine through violent means and called for militant attacks against the West supporting Israel.

Since then, Palestine has time and again featured in terrorist imagination. They decry Gandhian efforts of Yassar Arafat to negotiate for an amicable settlement. The unjustified human rights abuse and callous disregard for Palestinians from Israel have amplified this emotional ammo. Deploying Ibn Taymiyya’s fatwas against Mongols, Jihadi leaders cheer Muslim consciousness to take to arms. Israeli state violence, for them, vindicates Jihadi temptations.

Osama bin Laden in his 1996 fatwa declaring Jihad on America, used American support for Israel as a justification. The Jihadi literature often manipulates Palestine issues worldwide to sell their outrageous ideology. Juhayman Utaibi in 1976 declared war on the Family of Saud of Saudi Arabia citing Saudi relations with America which supports the Zionist state unconditionally. One of the major utopias spread by ISIS through their literature was the recapture of Palestine. Iran and allies, including Hezbollah, also militantly support Palestine's course to undercut Sunni influence in the region.

Thus, Palestine in the global imagination of Muslims is a tinderbox always blowing up conflicts. The brutal violence of the Israel state exacerbates this emotional appeal. The issue has much to do with Islamic eschatology, how the world ends, where the Prophet Jesus will come and when Muslims recapture Masjid ul Aqsa. These issues have their foundation in prophetic traditions and need to be reread to reduce the violence in the region, along with Israel's state abstaining from brutal violence.

In India

Fringe elements are on the prowl to corner gullible Muslim youth. Online literature is replete with such Jihad ideologies. They call for the liberation of Palestine through violent means. The emotional provocations are also seen in mainstream Muslim organizations which sometimes get trapped in the emotional fit of the moment. Such an insensible outpouring of emotions without practically explaining the situation might tempt people to turn towards extreme ideologies.

So, a fine balance should be maintained between condemning violence and attacks on Palestinian civilians and calling for action. In the contemporary global political scenario, global humanity can end violence only through negotiation and political settlement. Along with praying for global solidarity, efforts should be made by responsible community leadership and security apparatuses to prevent radicalisation using emotive issues.

Inviting Hamas leader Ismael Haniyya to address a virtual conference called by Jamaat-e-Islami, Kerala to reactions by top Muslim leaders seem to fan disgruntlement of Muslim youth in the country. The support by All India Muslim Law Board might be tempting to bruise the minds of community.

likewise, Aligarh Muslim University students supporting the attacks of Hamas also raises serious questions about the precipitous situation.

Muslims should beware of the dangerous implications of such unthinking acts. What was the need for Jamaat's youth wing in Kerala to invite Hamas leader to speak, even virtally? Should we encourage our youth to be influenced by Hamas leadership and their ideology of armed and violent resistance. The UN charter may allow an occupied territory to engage in armed resistance. But under no circumstances does it allow violence against civilians. That the state of Israel is inflicting great violence on civilians, as it has done even in the past, does not absolve Hamas's military wing to inflict violence on Israeli civilians. Neither UN charter nor Islamic postulates allow even occupied territories to perpetrate violence on innocent civilians. Which sensible Muslim would allow our youths to be infected by an inhuman ideology? Time we start thinking of consequences before acting in such stupid ways as did the Jamaat-e-Islami youth wing in Kerala.